Is there any benefit in changing stock suspension to Bilstein Damptronic and keeping the high of the car same as factory? I’m asking because my driveway would not allowed for more then 17 mm. drop .

 

at the very least, PASM will be usable once on the Bsteins. 15-17mm drop is good. The car will no longer nose-dive when hard braking and also, it will no longer squat when you accelerate from standstill. The Bsteins truly transform the car. It's a must-have IMO.

 

You'd be surprised at how much you can avoid scrapping by entering driveway at an angle, i have mine dropped to 20 mills & rarely scrape anywhere anymore although it took some time to get used to it .The ride is also very tolerable & the look is awesome.

 

Thanks NeilM, and Twturbo in my case I go to garage in reverse so the “angel maneuver” is very limited.

 

Techart and Cargraphic/Bilstein have a nose-lift kit available.

http://www.sharkwerks.com/products.php?pid=197

 

Nose lift kit is the way to go for the best of both worlds.

 

You could just do a 10-15mm drop, more than adequate imo. At the same token if you're just dropping it 10mm, cost may not justify the minimal improvement.

 

I'm living this exact setup right now. I started out with Champion springs only, the car had a 1" drop all around and handled great with a GT2 rear bar, but front end scraping on my driveway made it impracticle. While at Ruf they suggested using the Bilsteins set at near stock height as a solution ( the highest setting allowed by Bilstein).
After driving it a couple of months and one track event it's a bit of a mixed bag. The car handles better than stock, no doubt. But truth be told at the lower ride height and aggressive alignment achieved with the springs handled slightly better. But I am sure if I lowered the car to the same height and applied the same amount of negative camber etc that the Bilsteins would at least equal the springs.

 

They are not cheap, but offer a good solution.

 

Like some others have already mentioned, the best option is the nose-lift system. Just imagine being able to lower the car and STILL being able to navigate steep driveways and garages. You really can't beat it.

 

Thanks everyone for your input .I would like to keep my suspension clean and simple, the nose lift kit to me its just not a priority, the suspension is. I’m sure the lift kit works fine, but at same time it is an additional part of your suspension system. So going back to my original question would I feel any difference between the stack and Damptronic suspension in the stock high settings

 

yes. the Bsteins have much better dampening capabilities vs the stock set up.

 

Slawek,

In as much as the benefits of the Bilstein come from stiffer springs and better damper, and more importantly better MATCHED dampening action, the answer is most definitely yes, you should try the Bilstein even if you can't lower. The lowered height is a benefit, but it is not THE reason why Bilstein improves handling.

That said, the official recommendation is as followed: Front to be lowered 10-30, rear 5-25 mm. In other words, Bilstein would like you to lower the car at least 5 to 10 mm.

I believe the risk of having the Bilstein set too high is what's called coil bind. Car will become overly stiff. That said, Doug/TT Gasman has his Bilstein sets close to stock height I think (check with him for exact numbers), and he doesn't seem to have any problem.
You could try for yourself and see what happens, the height could be reset if there is a problem. The car will be transformed.

Hi Doug, you can't increase camber with the Bilstein if you don't lower??

 

The issue with the nose lift kit is the fact is it requires gobs of labor and has gobs and gobs of plumbing. Something goes wrong and good luck troubleshooting that one on the cheap. Would it be nice for driveways? sure, but I am not going to sit in downtown Chicago traffic, while waiting for my nose to lift before entering a drive or going over a speed bump. I take them slow and at an angle and i don't scrape. Plus, its just something you have to learn to live with. You will scrape the front end, it sounds much worse then it is, and for 150 bones in paint every 6 months it is as good as new. I say drop it and forget about it. You might catch a cat or two as well

 

One thing I should add is the part that scrapes is that $150 front lip, so unless you have a Techart lip or something that expensive, or unless you have a painted lip and want to keep it pristine, I don't feel that badly about scraping at all.

And I agree, I don't feel that strongly about the front lift system. The cost and complexity are not worth it unless you have an expensive lip to protect.

To add a data point: I have the Techart I lip, a costly one, and has my car lowered about 15mm. It scrapes a little bit underneath but has not cause any significant damage.

Again, if you think the stock car is soft (and you should -- just kidding), the Bilstein is a must. The most important mod for the Turbo IMO (for me more important than exhaust, wheel, ECU, PCCB) because it turns the car into a proper sports car. Click on the Bilstein link in my signature if you like to see some endless rambling.